It’s been more than a week since I returned from 12 days in Ecuador, and my head is still spinning.  Visions of marine iguanas and giant tortoises from the Galapagos Islands and fantastic hummingbirds from the mainland cloud forest linger on the edge of my consciousness. The seeds for this trip were sown in early in 2007.  I was discussing my 1995 trip to the Galapagos on my Saturday afternoon radio show in Pittsburgh (www.1360wptt.com).  A caller suggested I return with a group of listeners. I asked anyone who would seriously consider a fairly long and expensive trip to e-mail me.  Within a week I had a dozen responses, so I called a local travel agency. After months of planning and immeasurable assistance from Beverly Musilli at Uniglobe Travel in Wheeling, a group of 38 intrepid travelers left Pittsburgh on June 13.  We were anxious and perhaps even giddy with excitement.  The Galapagos cruise aboard Celebrity’s Xpedition lasted seven days. Add a day of travel each way and another day touring Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and that part of the trip lasted 10 days. After the cruise, 23 of us spent two extra days birding the cloud forest on the east side of the Andes.  It’s difficult to know where to begin because each day of the trip was a series of highlights, so I’ll start with some background.